Something to Cherish
by Mikiche
Summary: Only when you're willing to let go with everything you have that you acknowledge and cherish the things that have always been staying by your side, unnoticed. Naegami, spoilers for DR and SDR2 inside.


Naegi's parents were gone. Their home was ruined completely— looks like Monobear's motive disc had some truth to it after all.

He couldn't take it in - the killings, the destruction, the despair.

He was lucky to be one of the survivors, he knew that.

He bit his lip when he realized he was crying.

"Hey, Naegi. Are you alright..?" Kirigiri asked, her voice soft and twinged with concern. She'd warmed up to Naegi since the last trial, putting her trust in him completely. He was so full of hope then; seeing him crumpled by despair had worrried her.

He sniffed and shivered slightly at her touch; she seemed so cold back then. He coughed and managed to twist his frown into a somewhat convincing smile.

"I'm alright."

Kirigiri nodded, her eyes not looking away. She could see that he was terribly upset, and decided to quietly respect his privacy by believing in him.

They were standing outside Naegi's house - what was left of it, anyway -with Aoi and Kirigiri accompanying him, since Togami was busy rebuilding his home with Fukawa's assistance, along with Hagakure.

Aoi patted Naegi's back, smiling, "Hey, Naegi-chi, you can cry if you want," Her smile became sadder as she added quietly, "I'm sure you're upset..."

Upset? That wasn't even barely able to describe the feeling he felt. It made his insides twist and turn, knotting up and made him want to throw up. His knees were just barely able to make him stand properly, and his surroundings looked surreal. It made his head hurt. It made his entire self hurt. He just wanted to go home... Was his hope false given?

No, it wasn't - they did get out of Hope's Peak.

But this wasn't the kind of ending he was looking forward to when he was hopeful.

Certainly not like this...

Aoi made some sort of sniffing noise and it prompted Naegi to finally start crying.

She held Naegi close and the two were crying their heart out. Kirigiri just patiently waited it out, walking towards the two and regularly patting their backs or stroking their hair.

At least he had friends to cry it out with, right?

* * *

_'With Naegi and Asahina now.'_

Togami read through the message from Kirigiri quickly, making a "Hmph." sound before tossing his cellphone to the side.

"Oh, Master Byakuya! Is there something I can get you? Tea? Coffee? Or, perhaps, my love? Ehehehe..!" Fukawa giggled manically, clutching her sides as saliva dribbled down her chin.

Togami gave her a glare and snapped, "Yes, there's something you can do for me._ Get. Out_. You _disgust_ me."

"Ohh, certainly, Master Byakuya! Ohohohoho~"She waltzed out of the room, her braids flapping madly away with her.

Togami was rebuilding his world-famous family business by first setting back up the network, then working on the rest. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that hard either.

After getting out on Hope's Peak, Togami figured that things were going to be maliciously difficult for him, but it wasn't really. The contacts he'd made at Hope's Peak were useful, too. It was a good thing he associated with them after all; people like Kirigiri and Naegi were useful in many ways. (Kirigiri though, not so much. It's too hard to use her without her knowing, or figuring out sooner or later.)

Naegi was naive. He believed in the silliest of things - hope, for instance (though it was the factor that got them out, Togami was never going to admit that his life was saved by Naegi's naivety) - and using him would be way too easy.

The people around him as of current were useless anyway. Okay, maybe save for Hagakure - at least he could do manual labour.

Togami looked at his phone again.

Maybe...

He sighed, got up and grabbed his phone, typing in a few words.

_'Makoto, meet me at my residences immediately.'_

* * *

A beeping noise was heard.

It was half an hour since he was a heap of tears, but his eyes were still a little puffy and red. He took out his phone, and unlocked the password he set to see a new message icon.

He read the message sender's name and the text that followed.

He was a little shocked that Togami asked him over, and texted a quick reply :

_'give me 30 minutes. Kirigiri and Aoi are with me, can they come over too?'_

Literally 8 seconds later came the reply :

_'No.'_

Well.

"Naegi-chi? What's wrong?" Aoi asked, peering over his shoulder.

"A-Ah! Um, Togami asked me to go over to his house, or something..." Naegi stuttered, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Kirigiri closed her eyes and said matter-of-factly, "He asked you to go over alone, didn't he?" A nod. "Hurry up then, we'll see you later."

Naegi nodded, not sure of what to say. Kirigiri could always read his mind well. He lightly tapped Kirigiri's shoulder and smiled. "Thanks," he whispered, before running ahead and yelling, "See you guys later!

Aoi laughed and earned a confused look from Kirigiri. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing." Aoi said, before bursting out into more laughter.

Naegi reached his house in not 30, but 22 minutes. He was panting when he pressed the doorbell.

Hagakure was the one who opened the door.

"Oh, hey Naegs! Been a while, huh?"

"Yeah! How are you?" Naegi asked, a little delighted at seeing him instead of Togami, or worse still, Fukawa.

Hagakure was still as tall as ever, his palm tree hair fanning out into different directions. It was a little toned down, though; it was less wild than before and certainly shorter. Naegi also noticed that he was wearing just a white tee with jeans. Possibly Togami asking him to do manual labour, Naegi thought.

"I'm a'ight, a'ight. Never been better! Though, I wish Togami was a little less demanding..." His face paled a little at this point, and Naegi laughed.

Some things never change.

"Right, err, I'm supposed to meet him. Do you know where he i—"

"Over here." A cold, icy voice greeted Naegi as he turned to see Togami standing on the steps of a spiral staircase, glaring down at him.

When Naegi was unmoving, Togami snapped, "I said, over here. Faster."

Hagakure whispered to Naegi, "Yikes, he's in a p. much bad mood today, better watch out."

Naegi winked as he ran to the stairs, "Isn't he always?"

Togami did not appreciate the jokes they were making, as he snapped more at Naegi with demanding comments.

* * *

"So, uh, what made you call me out so suddenly?" Naegi asked, nervous. Togami gave no answer, but led him to a room which was filled with books and papers.

Naegi saw the mess and coughed slightly at the dust clouds coming out. What was Togami going to do? "Hey-" Naegi started, but stopped abruptly when he saw Togami smirk.

"You're going to be my errand boy for the week."

* * *

**Are they in character enough? Hmm, I don't know. Hope you enjoyed this, nonetheless. I really like Naegami! **

**This will be a longfic with slow updates lol so yeahh**


End file.
